Our Martian mission is coming to an end and with it the adventure of a lifetime. It comes as no surprise that all the hard work has paid well. We turn back to reflect to life before Mars and what comes next to each one of us. We are explorers and today we have moved a step further into a larger world of exploration. Into reaching the stars and going where none has boldly gone before.

MDRS Crew 201 – MEx-1

Space has been the final frontier for the latter days of humankind and we have had the chance to go where only a few have seen before. We are called Martians and we are a family who takes care of each other and looks after whoever is coming after you. Today MEx-1 received the next explorers that will take care of our home: Martian Makers. They will carry on some of our experiments and will continue the dreams of so many that have visited the station before us.

Yesterday before bed, we had the time to bond as a team and reflect on the ups and downs of our mission. We had the chance to look back and understand the challenges that will come after we get back to Earth and how will our lives change. We came as a crew and we leave as a family.

Our last day on Mars was as you would expect a last day at a home would be. We cleaned the rooms, we cleared all the shelves, we shoveled Martian snow and we worked to receive a new crew at our base. We had the place ready for the next explorers to begin their adventure like Crew 200 did for us. A brief tour of the hab, life support systems check, report check and all of the regular tasks done at the station. It was a hard moment because we knew our time was about to pass.

We are now readying our way back to Earth, our ship is refueling and our spirits are high. We are coming back home as Martians and we are preparing ourselves for longer missions, harder activities, more training and to do all what is needed to get back to Mars and support the idea of becoming a multiplanetary species.

We will work hard. We will teach the people about the stars. We will prepare the next generation of explorers to go larger lengths than what we have done in our first mission. We will do whatever it takes to get back to Mars and continue exploring.

Notes on rovers: Nothing to report.
# Hours the ATVs were Used today: Nothing to report.
Notes on ATVs : Nothing to report.

HabCar used and why, where? Yes, Refill the water of the static tank.
CrewCar used and why, where? Yes, to pick up the crew 202.

General notes and comments: We cleaned the whole station and also we welcome the crew 202.

Summary of internet: Nothing to report.

Summary of suits and radios: We figured out again that the 2-piece suit still has the airflow problem. We did the troubleshooting of the last time and we know that the battery is still working but the air is not flowing inside the helmets as it has to flow.

During our time on MDRS, as astronomer my main job was to make observations of different space bodies using the MDRS-WF telescope, the observations were focused on astrophotography of the next bodies:

Object

Filters

Exposure

Images taken

46P Wirtanen

RGB

60s

3

Andromeda Galaxy

H alpha

210

5

Andromeda Galaxy

RGB

60s

3

NGC7000

RGB

45s

3

Messier 101

RGB + Halpha

60s

4

Horsehead nebula

RGB + Halpha

60s

4

NGC2024

RG + Halpha

60s

3

PGC21396

RGB + Halpha + Lum

45s

5

* Horsehead nebula

RGB + Halpha

300s

4

* M1

RGB + Halpha + Lum

300s

5

* PGC27077

RGB + Halpha + Lum

120s

5

*Pending

The filters used to process the images were on most of them RGB and some of them the Halpha filter with a time of exposures between 45 and 300 seconds, after calibrating the images on AstroimageJ I proceed to give the color using photoshop based on the steps the quick guide had gave me.
The results were varied depending on the time of exposure and the filters used, but many of the images were great and I am getting experience and exciting about astrophotography.

Field Season #18

About The MDRS

The Mars Desert Research Station in the Utah desert was established by the Mars Society in 2001 to better educate researchers, students and the general public about how humans can survive on the Red Planet. It is the second Mars analogue habitat after the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station was established in 2000.

Over 200 crews of six-person teams have lived in 1-2 week field visits at MDRS to simulate life on the Martian surface. Researchers and students alike have explored the Mars-like terrain in the area surrounding the station in full “spacesuits”, maintained the station’s systems, grown plants in the GreenHab to support themselves and even recycled their waste water.

Our activities at MDRS are not only about informing the public, but also conducting real research to bring humanity that much closer to the reality of human exploration on the planet Mars.

Annual field seasons at MDRS run approx. October through May. Anybody can apply to be on a crew, and we also need volunteers to help with the project.